


you're safe within

by stonefreeak



Series: Supreme Chancellor Obi-Wan Kenobi [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Comfort, Gen, Nightmares, Platonic Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-04-05 05:47:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19042357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stonefreeak/pseuds/stonefreeak
Summary: Anakin wakes from nightmares tinted red. The darkness of his bedroom seems oppressive, and no matter how many times he blinks red seems to seep into the edges of his vision.He wants to feel safe. He wants Obi-Wan.





	you're safe within

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Poets of the Fall's song "Sleep"

Anakin wakes from nightmares tinted red. The darkness of his bedroom seems oppressive, and no matter how many times he blinks red seems to seep into the edges of his vision.

He shakes his head. His stomach feels cold.

He can’t remember the actual dream. It was just… sensations. Anger, fear… He felt _betrayed_. There might have been fires and blood, but he’s not sure.

Anakin bites his lips and squeezes his eyes shut, trying to stave off tears. He’s too old to cry, and he’s _Jedi_ , he’s not supposed to cry! He reaches for the Force, the way Master Obi-Wan has taught him to, time and time again, but it slips out of his grasp… like Tatooine sand through the fingers. He _can’t_ touch his emotions, calm them, and keep them from leaking into the Force if he can’t reach it.

He _knows_ Obi-Wan says it creates a feedback loop and he’ll just feel worse if he doesn’t. But he _can’t._

Frustration wells up in his chest. He wants… he wants… He wants _Obi-Wan_. Obi-Wan who’s been on a mission for _ages_ and only came back to the Temple this morning.

He shouldn’t. He’s _too old_ to—

Anakin shuts up the little mental voice that tells him to just stay in bed and be _proper_. He hasn’t seen Obi-Wan in months, and even though Palpatine is nice and all, he’s not Obi-Wan.

Anakin slides out of bed, the pads of his feet softly hitting the floor with a low sound. He considers turning the lights on, just so the darkness will feel less oppressive but… no. Besides, he doesn’t need light to navigate their rooms.

He moves silently through the rooms. The floor is slightly chilly against his bare feet.

He stops in the doorway to Obi-Wan’s room. The sound of his master’s quiet breathing is like a soothing balm. Steeling himself he he sneaks in through the open door and up to the bed, looking at his sleeping Master.

He reaches for the covers, trying to move them without waking Obi-Wan up, but—

“Mmm? Anakin?” Obi-Wan’s voice is sleep raspy and barely more than a whisper.

“I had a nightmare…” Oh, he shouldn’t. He’s too old for this; Palpatine always says that only small children sneak into their parents’ bed and Anakin _isn’t_ a baby, but… but he… Maybe he should just go back to his room before Obi-Wan can turn him down, before Obi-Wan can be disappointed that he’s even here at all.

Obi-Wan doesn’t say anything, he just shifts slightly and lifts one arm, holding the covers open—a clear invitation.

Anakin doesn’t waste a second to climb into the small, warm space under Obi-Wan’s arm and making himself home. He buries his face in Obi-Wan’s sleep-shirt and inhales the scent of Obi-Wan, home, and comfort. The red disappears from his vision almost instantly and the fog in his head clears up.

It’s like light fills the inside of his skull, and suddenly the Force is in such clear reach. He grasps for it, carefully and gently, and he focuses on his emotions. They swirl and shudder within him, but he feels… Safe. Safe and calm. And the warmth of this space sweeps away his anxiety in a heartbeat.

Obi-Wan’s arm comes down, resting across Anakin’s side, his palm big and warm just between Anakin’s shoulder blades. Between one breath and the next, Obi-Wan goes back to sleep.

Anakin clutches his Master’s sleep shirt. He’s thirteen now. Maybe Palpatine is right, he’s too old to seek comfort in his Master like this when he has a nightmare.

He’ll stop after this, Anakin decides. He’ll be grown up from now on, and that way Obi-Wan won’t think he’s a burden.

For the last time, Anakin falls asleep in his teacher’s bed—safe, warm, and content.


End file.
